I
fully support this proposal and I am delighted the government are committing
£20 million over the next few years to support the delivery of protecting four
million square kilometres of marine environment. This money will help us
improve our scientific understand of the oceans, develop and implement evidence
based marine management strategies, and ensure the management of such a
programme is sustainable for the long term.
A
couple of months ago the government published its strategy for the British
Overseas Territories, you can read in more detail what we are doing here:
At a
local level, I am chairman of the APPG for Protect Our Waves who work with the
charity Surfers Against Sewerage. Together we have pressured the government to
introduce the ban on microbeads, hold a consultation on the best way to
introduce a Bottle Return Deposit scheme and pressure water companies to
improve water quality around our beaches and shorelines.
A few
weeks ago the Environment Minister, Therese Coffey announced a newly classified
marine Special Protection Area which will come into force along a 24 mile
stretch of coast from Falmouth to St Austell Bay. You can read more here:
